The goal line is in sight for legislators in the European Union (EU) in their effort to pass a law that would place significant restrictions on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the EU.
According to an article posted in early December to the website of the New York Times, representatives of the EU Parliament, the Council of the European Union, and the EU Commission have agreed to final terms of the Union’s A.I. Act passed by Parliament earlier this year. The agreement followed an initial session that lasted 22 hours that the article characterized as “contentious” as lawmakers attempted to determine the extent to which to regulate AI systems without adversely impacting the competitiveness of EU-based startups against their American counterparts, such as Google and OpenAI.
The final draft of the A.I. Act must now pass votes in both the Parliament and the Council before its provisions can take effect.
Policymakers in other countries have also initiated discussions on potential steps to control the use and control of AI technologies. However, the actions by the EU represent the most significant advancement of potential AI regulatory controls to date.
Read the New York Times article about the EU’s tentative agreement on rules governing the use of AI.
